POLOKWANE, SOUTH AFRICA
STERKFONTEIN CAVES

"No, Akilah is not your daughter."

Startled, Quentin Blood turns toward the cave entrance where the voice traveled from. Vincent Moore turns in the same direction, followed by Akilah and the others in the cavern.

They are all shocked to find Leslie Hanley striding into the candlelit cavern with Michael Hanley in tow.

"Akilah is not your daughter," Leslie says, repeating her words while coming face-to-face with Quentin. "I am."

"Excuse me?" Vince demands.

"Not now, Vincent." Leslie reaches out, touching Quentin's face. "You're him."

Quentin is dumbfounded. He stands there eerily silent, until Leslie balls her hand into a fist and punches him.

"You're the monster that raped my mother," Leslie hisses, advancing on Quentin. "You found her in a park in Chicago and raped her."

"No," Quentin says, keeping his balance. "The tests done...they proved that Akilah is my daughter."

"I'm sure they proved you were related to Akilah," Leslie says. "Perhaps the person you had read them is an idiot."

Chris Server hisses at Leslie, advancing on her with fiery eyes and fangs baring. She steps back, horrified at the sight.

"So it's true..." Michael whispers, glancing toward Alec and Julia who cower in fear from Chris. "They're all...vampires."

Quentin stares into Leslie's eyes, hoping to see through them, into her soul for a connection. To remember the woman he made love to in that park on a cold, balmy Chicago night.

But there's nothing.

"Come with me," Quentin says, extending his hand.

Leslie, not flinching, takes Quentin's hand and follows him out of the cavern entrance. Michael and Vince are horrified, but their attempts to follow them are halted by Chris.

Chris narrows his eyes. "Take one move...and you're dead."

BACK CAVERN

The cavern is dark and shadowy, illuminated only by the candlelight of the cavern entrance. But here, deep with the Sterkfontein Caves, Leslie can barely see the man standing before her. His voice, however, echoes loudly in her ears.

"Are you the beautiful woman that I made love to?" Quentin inquires.

Leslie scoffs. "Made love to? Try the woman you raped. My mother."

"I raped no one!"

"Didn't you? The woman you attacked wasn't me. I've never...I've never been raped in my life. I have made love to only one man."

Quentin moves toward Leslie, frightening her for the first time. He sniffs at her, running his fingers along her neck.

"I sense...sex."

"That's disgusting," Leslie says.

"Sex with more than one man..." Quentin insists. "One of them recently...two of them produced a child. One of them...no!"

"You can sense that? Sense that Akilah is not your daughter?"

"I need proof," Quentin says. "I will drink of you."

"Stay the hell away from me," Leslie cries, swatting at Quentin's face.

He grabs her arm, keeping her from hitting him again. He stares at her, silent for a moment, then he allows his fangs to slide out. "If you are truly my daughter...then don't worry. I shall not kill you."



CAVERN ENTRANCE

"Get the hell out of my way," Vince says, standing before Chris. "And let me see my sister."

"You mean my wife?" Chris laughs.

"Akilah is not your wife."

"What's going on here?" Michael demands, resting his hand on Vince's shoulder. "What in the hell is all of this?"

"They're vampires," Julia says, speaking up as she uses Alec to hold her balance. "Akilah is...I don't know what she is. But she's under Quentin's thrall still."

"She's not a vampire yet," Chris says. "That's where the honeymoon comes in."

"Over my dead body," Vince snarls.

"That can be arran —" Chris' eyes widen instantly, his body goes numb, and he starts to shake uncontrollably. He slides forward, falling to the ground flat on his face. A large slab of wood is shoved into his back.

Matt Holden looks up at Vince and everyone else, his eyes wide with fear.

"Matt!" Vince cries. "You killed Chris!"

"How'd you know he was a vampire?" Michael demands.

Confused, Matt looks down at Chris' lifeless body. "He was a vampire?"

"Alec!" Felicia Bale rushes in behind Matt, hurrying toward Alec. She embraces her son, kissing him as a mother would who hadn't seen her child for months and worried about his safety. "You've been gone for months!"

Alec grimaces. "Months? It seems like it's been two weeks."

"Time flies when you're almost getting killed," Julia says, shrugging.

"Vince?"

Akilah's eyes suddenly fly open, and she collapses into Matt's arm. He lowers her to the ground, allowing her to rest in his lap while brushing the hair out of her face. "Is she okay?"

"She's fine," Vince snaps. "She...I don't know. Just stay with her, okay? I need to find my mother."

"Ditto," Michael agrees. "There are two passageways back there. Quentin took her through one of them."

"Then let's split up," Vince says.



BACK CAVERN

Quentin removes his lips from Leslie's neck, licking the remaining drop of blood from his mouth. He stares into Leslie's eyes, a deep sadness palpable in his own.

"You are...my daughter," Quentin says. "I was wrong."

"Yes you were," Leslie says, still somewhat weak from the bite. "Now you...let Akilah go and I will...deal with this on my own."

"Christopher is much too weak for a worldly woman such as yourself. I tasted a deep sadness that I am sorry I was not able to protect you from, my beautiful daughter."

Tears form in Leslie's eyes. "I've always wanted to know my father...even though I knew that he had raped my mother, a part of me was always hoping I'd at least find him...if only to do this."

She claws at Quentin's eye, causing him to scream in agony. He lunges after her, grabbing Leslie violently. "We are not so unalike! You have deep secrets of your own, Leslie Holland...deep secrets that you have kept for far too long from your children. Do they know that they do not share the same father? Do they know the evil in your heart?"

"Oh my God..."

Leslie cranes her neck, horrified to find the person standing behind her, emerging from the lit cavern entrance. She feared of him learning the truth, and yet now...everything is out in the open. Her secret she has kept for far too long. Longer than she assumed she would be able to.

"Michael," Leslie gasps softly. "How long have you been standing there?"